Mothers' Group to IDF: Back Soldiers in Court

Founders of “Mother's Voice” group asked to meet Chief of Staff but were turned down.

Contact Editor

Gil Ronen, 04/10/09 23:31 | updated: 05:20

Maloul with his mother in court

Israel News photo: Ch. 2 screenshot

Ronit Mintz whose son is a battalion commander in the IDF's Kfir infantry regiment, established a new non-profit organization, “Mother's Voice,” after she learned of the legal proceedings against Lt. Adm Maloul, who was charged after slightly roughing up an Arab during counterterror operations.

On Sunday she spoke with the IDF Chief of Staff's bureau and demanded to know if anyone is defending the soldiers and officers from possible future legal proceedings. She also asked for an audience with Chief of Staff, Lt Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi. The bureau representatives told her in response that Ashkenazi would not be meeting the group because there is an ongoing legal case regarding the same question.

Presumably, the bureau was referring to the trial of Lt. Maloul and Sgt. Evyatar Gadasi who are charged with regard to the same incident.

Mintz tried to explain that the need for a meeting on the subject was a burning one, but to no avail.

She told Arutz Sheva's Hebrew service that her group intends to hold protest vigils outside Ashkenazi's office. She also explained that the providing of legal assistance and defense for the soldiers was especially important now because of the activity of left-wing and anarchist groups like B'Tselem, Machsom Watch, Yesh Din and others, “who search for the Palestinian who will sue the soldiers, and assist him” even if he was not even considering such a motion to begin with.

More than 2,300 people have signed up for the Mothers' Voice organization, she said, because it is not just Kfir Regiment soldiers stationed in Judea and Samaria who are vulnerable to the legal actions. Any reservist, too, she said, could have found himself using force while subduing an Arab prisoner. Such a person would then have received a lawsuit five months after the end of his reserve stint.